We laugh at the Irish, French and Jewish schoolboys, but the sting is familiar: the quiet deal we make between our beliefs and our wallets. Maurice doesn’t “betray” Moses; he simply reveals a truth adults hide better—principles often pause when profit walks in. The joke works because it’s not really about religion; it’s about the price we secretly put on being right.
The rich woman and the poor but honest man flip romance into arithmetic. His proposal isn’t a dream, it’s a balance sheet—love reduced to the pain of losing what he never had. Then the magic desk finishes the confession: money isn’t just numbers, it’s mystery, suspicion, and the fear that someone else is always getting more. Together, these stories tease us into laughing at a harsh mirror: in the end, our hearts, our pride, and our bank accounts are rarely on the same side.
